Recently, I had the opportunity to contribute to Financial Ops magazine (print edition) Special Reports: Technology feature. Within the piece I discussed the paperless office, with a focus on the past, present as well as providing predictions on what the future will look like.

With back-to-school and holidays right around the corner, major retailers and franchises must prepare themselves for the uptick in sales and transactions. With an increase in sales, the master franchise accounting department has to quickly process and analyze thousands of paper invoices coming from hundreds of different locations. This can lead to delays in productivity and also create a strain on the AP/AR departments, which retailers cannot afford during a high demand season. Further, retailers that depend on paper invoices do not have full visibility into cash flow when there are likely hundreds of invoices sitting on desks of store managers.

As many people familiar with workflow technology know, AP document management technology is only as strong as the procure-to-pay (P2P) processes. Technology won’t solve a process problem, so closely evaluating the accounting process before implementing an AP/AR automation solution is critical.